LEHMBRUCK, WILHELM

born Jan. 4, 1881, Meiderich, near Duisburg, Ger. died March 25, 1919, Berlin printmaker, painter, poet, and one of the most important sculptors of the Expressionist movement in Germany. He is best known for the pathos of his sculptures of elongated nudes. Lehmbruck's youthful work was in the tradition of academic realism. But by 1905 he was greatly impressed with the monumental works of the famed French sculptor Auguste Rodin, as can be seen in Lehmbruck's The Bather (1905) and his life-sized Mankind (1909). Kneeling Woman, plaster cast of original sculpture by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, 1911. In the In 1910 Lehmbruck moved to Paris, where he executed not only sculpture but also a number of paintings, etchings, and lithographs. The full, boldly modeled forms of his Standing Woman (1910) reveal his new enthusiasm for the classicism of the French sculptor Aristide Maillol. The idealized face is softly modeled and evokes a sensitive, introspective mood that anticipates works of Lehmbruck's mature style, such as the Kneeling Woman (1911). The harmonious repose of this figure's angular, yet feminine, limbs and her melancholy facial expression suggest a resigned pessimism that characterizes Lehmbruck's mature works. His bronze Standing Youth (1913) is similarly elongated. But, in contrast to the Kneeling Woman, it exhibits a masculine hardness and brooding power. Seated Youth, statue by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, 1918; in the Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, At the outbreak of World War I, Lehmbruck returned to Germany, where he worked in a hospital. His experiences with wounded and dying soldiers led him to create such poignant works as The Fallen (191516) and Seated Youth (1918), revealing the artist's state of utter depression. He committed suicide one year later.